My Brother Is The Hero Of Earth 21 Chapter 21 - Herb Hunting

At dawn, everyone gathered in the kitchen as we ate breakfast and went over the plans for the day. Yue, Lesedi, and Kiara spent most of the night using the dectors Alice gave them marking the ship's map and plotted out our journey. There were no large mineral deposits in the outskirts of the mountain range, so we would focus on collecting herbs while we headed northeast, heading to closest point between the ocean and the mountains before we ventured into the heart of the mountain range. Yue made a point to stress that Alice warned her repeatedly about being careful and to look for the Thunderbirds if we ran into real danger.

"Rebecca, I want you to promise me you won't use your magic unless someone is going to be seriously injured. Even Melissa's holy magic isn't as dangerous as your bloodline being revealed," Yue said when we finished eating.

"I understand. I'll be on my best behavior," I a.s.sured.

"Alright, let's head up to the deck. We should be reaching the first drop area in a few minutes," Yue said, standing up.

Everyone joined her, putting away their dishes before leaving the kitchen through the bedroom they were staying in. Gustavo had Ella, Melissa, Kiara, and Yue while Lesedi, Sophia, Terri, and Katye in my room. No one was sharing a bed though as there were six twin sized bunks that hung off the hull of the ship, so there were enough beds for everyone, but another six could be added above if we needed more beds.

We reached the deck and gathered around the platform, with only those who would be staying on the ship sitting on the couches. Terri, Gustavo, Lesedi, Kiara, and even Katye flashed with a white light as their armor covered their bodies. Terri and Lesedi were both in their combination of metal and leather armor, one a dark green the other a warm red. Gustavo was in his silver knight armor with his black boots and glove and his sword hanging at his waist while Kiara had a similar set of leather as Melissa's and Yue's, only hers were a vibrant green.

Katye had a golden breastplate that left her back open, hanging on by the collar around her neck and a set of straps at her waist and wore a set of forest green, gold studded leather cuisse and greaves. On her right forearm there was a golden vine that wrapped around from her elbow to the tip touching a gold ring with an amethyst placed in the center.

Since I couldn't use my scales, I also summoned out my armor. A black, leather breastplate covered my torso which had a golden dragon on the back and the front had golden flames, both patterns created out the metal studs that reinforced the armor. I only wore a set of black leather cuisses since greaves had always been uncomfortable which made since with my new ability. I attached my two knife holsters as well since I could still use my normal mana without destroying the knives.

"Here, you remember how to use them, right?" Ella asked as she handed a stack of yellow-paper talismans to Katye.

"Yes, these five are barrier spells, these five are haste spells, and the last is a void step which I should only use if there is no other choice," Katye answered.

"Good la.s.sie," Ella said with a smile.

"We're in range," Yue said from the platform as the ship slowed to a stop.

"Race you down!" Gustavo laughed as he took off running for the edge of the ship.

Lesedi chuckled as she ran off after him which caused me to get some looks since I didn't join them in running off. I did after a moment when I swear I heard Terri snickering, if only to escape the embarra.s.sment. I jumped off the ship while I pulled out my hover board and got my feet placed before the board began to control my fall, surfing the air as I gradually spiraled down.

Gustavo was the first to land by bulldozed through a large tree as he approached the ground, but it worked as a landing platform for the rest of us. Lesedi used an enchantment on her boots that gave her a similar glide ability as the hover boards, so she slide to a stop along the long, limbless section of the tree. I skidded to a stop a few from her and looked up as the last three fell... well, only two fell as Katye zoomed around with her wing faster than they could fall. Kiara and Terri used their boots like Lesedi as they glided down and Katye landed gracefully a moment after them.

"Everyone ready?" Gustavo asked as he took a serious expression. When everyone nodded, he added, "Alright, Kiara, lead the way next to me since we aren't going to rely on Becca's senses until she has to get serious."

Kiara nodded and pointed to the left as Gustavo moved in that direction. She followed after him with Lesedi and I flanking her sides without being too close while Katye and Terri took the rear. Since we didn't know how dangerous the forest was yet, no one was taking any risks and we instantly fell into a loose formation.

The forest was strangely quiet, even with Gustavo's smashing entrance. There were no sounds of insects or birds that normally would have restarted after a few minutes of peace, yet it was silent. Everyone had armed themselves, except for myself and Katye, who I a.s.sumed would be using pure magic since I never saw her in the training field. Even without awakening my enhanced senses, I could still 'something' in front of us which wasn't a good sign, so I double tapped my ear cuff, sending a silent pulse through everyone's ear. Everyone dropped at once to a squatting position in unison, with Terri pulling Katye down by the arm. The feeling starting growing, and I knew it was coming our way.

"Hide," I ordered through the cuff.

We split up, diving into any nearby bushes while everyone used a cloaking talisman. A trio of large, leafy green horned snakes slithered through the trail, stopping when reached where we had been standing moments ago, their forked tongues flicking in and out as they smelled the air. They were all over twenty feet long and their heads were big enough to swallow a person whole. But the sight of the snakes relieved me since I could tell the were Uktenas and not a Piasa Bird. That just meant the horned snakes had a small amount of dragon blood which made sense as most large snakes did.

"False alarm, let's kill them!" I said.

Gustavo, Lesedi, and I jumped out the bushes, each of us taking a snake. I dodged the initial strike as I filled two knives with my mana then threw them into the body of the snake. One exploded with red flames while other released a blast of crimson electricity, both taking a large chuck of flesh. It gave a screech as it flailed about and whipped its tail at me. My scales appeared as I caught the tail and dug my talons in its flesh as it struggled against my grip. Once again, it struck out for me and I jerked its body, using it as a shield. While its fangs sunk into its own tail, I pulled out one of my spears and channeled wind mana through it, increasing its piercing ability, before thrusting it threw the beast's head.

With my snake dead, I looked to the others. Gustavo had already cut the head of his snake off while Lesedi had crushed a number of spots across its body before finally crushing its head. Kiara came out when the fighting ended and Terri and Katye tumbled out as well with Terri complaining.

"Katye... your mana..." Terri yelled as she twitched on the ground

"I... I'm sorry... I just don't like snakes," Katye apologized as she backed away.

Terri groaned and she pushed herself up. "Next time, just blast them with magic, not me," she sighed, dusting herself off.

"Sorry... I will, I will!"

"So, Lesedi, are the scales worth anything?" I asked.

Lesedi dropped her hammer and bent down, testing one between her finger and thumb. It snapped under the pressure and she shook her head. "No, they are too weak, even if they had some elemental properties."

"Then let's just dissolved them and harvest the core then," Gustavo said as he retrieved a vial of green liquid.

He splashed a few drops of the liquid on the snake he had killed and its body sizzle as it turned to a green puddle. The remains sank into the ground, only leaving behind a green crystal the size of a fist. Lesedi and I did the same and collected our crystals while the others gathered.

"Listen," Kiara said quietly. "The bugs..."

No one spoke as we all listened to the sound that had returned to the forest. It was just a few bugs at first before more joined and even some birds which caused all of us to sigh in relief. We fell back into formation as Kiara continued to lead us for another few minutes and stopped us when we reached a large red flower with nine, pointed petals. She retrieved a large, gla.s.s capsule with a silver band where it separated into two halves. She put the herb inside including a clump of dirt with it then put the whole thing away into her ring.

"Done, on to the next," Kiara said.

Gustavo nodded and we retreated back to the tree he had knocked over. Yue was already overhead and the ladder was dangling in small opening. I held the ladder while Lesedi, Gustavo, and then Terri headed up.

"If you have those hover boards, why don't you use them to fly up?" Katye asked as the others climbed.

"Going down is easy, going up is a lot harder," I replied with a smile.

"That makes sense."

"Head on up."

"I can hold the ladder for you since I can just fly up to the deck," Katye replied as her wings appeared.

"Oh, okay," I agreed.

She placed her hands on the ladder so that overlapped with mine for a moment, sending sparks through my body. I tried to suppress a blush and hurried to climb up the ladder. I heard a playful giggle and my blush only darkened, but thankfully, she couldn't see it on the ground.

The rest of the day went rather well since the Uktena were only real predators we came across and I could sense them long before they could ambush us, reducing their threat greatly. By the time the sun began to set, we called it a night and Kiara had collect over forty herbs. Most of us went to bed after dinner, except for Yue who returned to the main deck to watch over us throughout the night.